Seven St. Peter’s Health Partners Nurses Honored for Nursing Excellence

left to right: SPHP nurses Anneesha Smith, Beth Woods, Kathy Borges, Carol Cruccetti, Julianne Catlin, Karen Spinelli, and Michelle Murray

Seven St. Peter’s Health Partners (SPHP) nurses will honored for nursing excellence at the third annual Times Union Salute to Nurses.

Presented by SPHP and sponsored by Excelsior College as part of National Nurses Week (May 6-12), Times Union Salute to Nurses celebrates the profession of nursing and the outstanding women and men who represent nursing excellence in the Capital Region. A ceremony will be held Friday, May 12, to recognize the awardees.

Three SPHP nurses will be named “2017 Nurse of the Year,” an honor reserved for just 10 Capital Region nurses:

•  Kathleen Borges, MS, RN, C-MNN, CNE, Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing, Faculty
•  Julianne Catlin, LPN, Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital, Brain Injury
•  Karen Austin-Spinelli, BSN, RN, Manager, St. Peter’s Hospital ALS Center

Additionally, four SPHP nurses will be honored as 2017 Nurse of the Year Finalists, a distinction given to only 12 nurses:

• Carol Crucetti, MS, RN, CPHQ, HRM, NE-BC, Chief Nursing Officer of Samaritan Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital
•  Michelle Murray, BSN, RN, CWON, Eddy VNA, Certified Wound Ostomy Care
•  Anneesha Smith, RN, St. Peter’s Hospital, Acute Cardiac Care
•  Beth Woods, RN, Albany Memorial Hospital, 5th floor Medical Surgical Unit

“Nurse of the Year” recipients and finalists were selected from more than 300 nominations submitted to the Times Union. Nurses were nominated by their peers, colleagues, supervisors, patients, and the families of patients.

“Nurses are at the heart of the compassionate, high quality, people-centered care we provide every day at St. Peter’s Health Partners. We could not do what we do without their expertise, talent, and dedication,” said James K. Reed, M.D., president and chief executive officer of SPHP. “We congratulate the awardees and finalists of the 2017 Times Union Salute to Nurses. We thank them and all of the nurses throughout our system for all they do, every day.”

Times Union Salute to Nurses honors nurses for their extraordinarily selfless contributions, impact on quality of life for their patients and their passion for the nursing profession.